Rep. Tony Gonzales Accuses Dead Staffer’s Widow of Trying to Blackmail Him

By Eleanor Klibanoff and Alejandro Serrano, The Texas Tribune

SAN ANTONIO, TX — U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales of San Antonio on Thursday claimed he was being blackmailed by the husband of a former staffer who reportedly died by suicide. Earlier this week, the San Antonio Express-News reported that the staffer had confided in a colleague that she had an affair with the congressman while they were both married. 

“I WILL NOT BE BLACKMAILED. Disgusting to see people profit politically and financially off a tragic death,” Gonzales wrote in a social media post on X. He shared a screenshot of half of an email, which seems to indicate a lawyer for the staffer’s husband is requesting a settlement of up to $300,000 from Gonzales in exchange for a non-disclosure agreement. 

The email, which is not dated or timestamped, is signed by Robert Barrera, an attorney who is representing the staffer’s husband.

In an interview Thursday night, Barrera said the first half of the email not included in Gonzales’ social media post described text messages between the former aide, Regina Santos-Aviles, and the congressman. At a “minimum,” Barrera said the messages would support a sexual harassment claim should the parties end up in court. 

Barrera declined to share the letter with The Texas Tribune because it was sent as a confidential lawyer-to-lawyer communication and he did not want to break state bar rules, he said. Instead, he detailed the messages to a reporter as acts that Gonzales “would like to commit on this young lady.” He said the staffer’s responses were “clear attempts to say, ‘This is too much, this is too far, this is not right.’”  

Gonzales’ campaign, lawyer and representatives in his office did not respond earlier Thursday to requests for comment. The congressman did not return a text message Thursday night. 

“He refuses to acknowledge the truth,” Barrera said of Gonzales. “Clearly, he knows we have evidence.”

In a statement to The Texas Tribune on Wednesday, Gonzales did not answer questions about the alleged affair but blamed his opponent in the March 3 GOP primary for trying to use the woman’s death to score political points. He has previously dismissed the affair allegation as untrue. 

Santos-Aviles died last year after apparently setting herself on fire in Uvalde. A social media account purporting to be Santos-Aviles’ husband, Adrian Aviles, responded to Gonzales’ post, calling him a “two-faced politician.”  

“We have never blackmailed anyone,” the post said. “What we’ve seen instead is a consistent pattern of evasion, refusal to take accountability, and outright lies to protect your image.”

The email screenshot shared by Gonzales indicates Aviles’ attorney was considering filing a lawsuit under the Congressional Accountability Act, which allows staffers to sue over discrimination, harassment or labor violations for up to $300,000, but was concerned about potentially damaging the lawmaker’s reputation.

“I don’t have a way to file it without potentially damaging his career, even if I am unsuccessful in its pursuit,” Barrera wrote. “That is clearly not my goal or we would have filed this claim already.”  

In the interview, Barrera said he still had Santos-Aviles’ phone and all the messages had been downloaded. He said he wanted her husband to decide whether to release them, which would likely not occur before Friday. 

“People are ignoring the fact that this young lady is dead,” he said. “She’s dead because of the emotional consequences she suffered at losing her marital relationship and her job because of this relationship with Tony Gonzales, and everybody’s aware of that, and everybody acknowledges it, except Tony Gonzales.”

Gonzales, a Navy veteran who has represented the 23rd Congressional District since 2021, is married and has six children. His district — the largest in the state — runs along the southwestern border and includes a slice of San Antonio. 

In his social media post, Gonzales called for the police report surrounding Santos-Aviles’ death to be released, which her husband said was being withheld to protect their eight-year-old son. 

“Nothing in that police report protects you, that decision is about protecting our child’s well-being, not concealing anything improper,” the post said. “Your actions have been disgraceful, and you continue to mislead your constituents with falsehoods.”

Rumors have swirled about an affair between Santos-Aviles and Gonzales since Current Revolt in September reported on the staffer’s death. At The Texas Tribune Festival in November, Gonzales addressed the allegations for the first time, saying the “rumors are completely untruthful.” 

Earlier this week, the Express-News published a text message between Santos-Aviles and another former Gonzales staffer, in which she confessed she’d “had an affair with our boss.” The staffer, who asked not to be named due to fear of retaliation, denied that he had been paid or promised any compensation by Gonzales’ primary opponents, the newspaper said. 

Santos-Aviles’ husband broke his silence in a subsequent interview with the newspaper that was published Wednesday. He said that Gonzales “abused his power,” and the congressman and members of his staff tried to push her out of her job after he learned of the affair. He and his wife separated after the affair came to light, but were working on reconciling. 

Santos-Aviles was “spiraling” over the affair, he told the Express-News, and repeatedly threatened to kill herself. In September 2025, she reportedly lit herself on fire at her home. She died the next day at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. 

Gonzales is facing a tough primary challenge from Brandon Herrera, a gun rights activist who came within 400 votes of beating the three-term congressman in a runoff election in 2024. Former Rep. Quico Canseco and Marine Corps Keith Barton are also running in the GOP primary.